Working International Protection Applicants earn just €167 less weekly than the general employee population, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
While the standard employee earned about €712 per week in 2024, employed International Protection Applicants (IPAs) earned approximately €544 in median weekly earnings, the CSO found.
The second release in a series analysing demographics, economic activity, and social welfare activity for people seeking International Protection found that in 2024, 74.1 percent of the IPA group in employment were male, while females accounted for 25.9 percent.
For the IPA group from 2021 to 2024, and in employment in 2024, three sectors accounted for 63.9 percent of those working: Administrative and Support Services (36.2 percent); Accommodation and Food Services (16.3 percent); and Wholesale and Retail Trade (11.4 percent).
That year, median weekly earnings IPAs working in those sectors were €577.49 in Administrative and Support Services; €445.24 for those in Accommodation and Food Services; and €516.44 in Wholesale and Retail Trade.
According to the CSO, the highest median weekly earnings for the employed IPAs by nationality were those from Georgia, who earned weekly €658.60, and Zimbabwe, who earned weekly €566.55.
The waiting period for International Protection Applicants to enter the labour market was reduced from nine months to six months in 2021.
In its analysis of the data, the CSO found that the general employment population had higher median weekly earnings in 10 out of the 11 economic sectors, the Accommodation and Food Services sector being the sole exception, where IPA’s weekly earnings of €445.24 compared with €391.15 in 2024 for the general employment population.
“We know from the Distribution of Earnings by Nationality release that workers in the Accommodation & Food Services sector tend to be younger and work less hours, particularly so for the general employment population and Irish nationals,” Darragh Turner, statistician in the Labour Market and Earnings Analysis Division of the CSO, said.
“In 2024, the highest paying sectors for the IPA group were Construction (€659.72) and Information and Communication (€599.48), and the lowest paying sector was Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (€424.91).
“Looking at the sectors where the majority of the IPA group were in employment, we can see median weekly earnings were €577.49 in Administrative and Support Services, €445.24 in Accommodation and Food Services and €516.44 in Wholesale & Retail Trade,” Mr Turner said.